Electrical contact mounting means



Oct. 14, 1958 E. B. HEYHAL ELECTRICAL CONTACT MOUNTING MEANS FiledMay 1. 1957 d .b J v a M w WM M flf w J s 6 ,N Z V/O fir n. w w d y 7 fK Z g 4 M a m 5 W f a United States Patent ELECTRICAL CONTACTMGUNTINGMEANS Edward B. Heyhal, Bridgeport, Count, assignor to GeneralElectric Company, a corporationiof New York Application May 1, 1957,Serial No. 656,233

3 Claims. (Cl. 206-466) This invention relates to electric switches andparticularly to a means of mounting an electrical contact in an openingin a thin panel member of a switch.

There are several ways of mounting switch contacts. First, the contactsmay be riveted in place; secondly, they may be staked or swaged; and,thirdly, they may be confined within the switch housing between opposedgrooves and held in place by a removable cover member. Both of the firsttwo methods are rather expensive as compared with the third method. Thepurpose of the present invention is to provide an electrical contactwhich may be assembled in a panel opening by merely pushing the contactthrough the opening until it snaps into place. This arrangement may beused as a substitute for the riveted or swaged methods while it retainsthe simplicity and low cost of the third confining method mentionedabove.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an electricalcontact with a resilient mounting means which may be assembled easily inan opening in a panel member without the use of special tools.

A further object of this invention is to provide an electrical contactwith a transversely resilient mounting means for the opening in a thinpanel member where the closing of the circuit through the contact tendsto increase the holding force.

My invention will be better understood from the following descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawing and its scope will bepointed out in the appended claims.

Figure 1 is an isometric view of an electrical contact embodying myinvention.

Figure 2 is a side view of the contact of Figure 1 as it is beingassembled in a panel opening.

Figure 3 is a view similar to that of Figure 2 with the contact in itsfinal assembled position.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional elevational view of a typical switch inwhich this invention may be used.

Referring in detail to the drawing and particularly to Figure 1, thereis shown an electrical contact of thin strip material such as Phosphorbronze which is formed into the desired shape so that it may beassembled in a switch housing. This contact has a blade 11, a mountingportion 12 and a terminal end 13. The end 13 has a U-shaped crimpingsection for receiving a bare conductor (not shown) that is to be joinedtherein. The novelty of this invention is centered around the mountingportion 12 and how it cooperates with an opening in a thin panel member.First, there is a lanced locking tongue 14 which is located at the baseof the blade 11; and, secondly, there is an abutment 15 which isarranged to oppose the locking tongue. Between the tongue and abutmentthere is formed a transversely resilient and longitudinally extensiblespring section 16 which is in the shape of the letter 8 when seen inside view.

A better understanding of the nature of the contact 10 will be had byconsidering Figure 2 and the preliminary steps of assembling the contact10 in an opening 17 in Patented Oct. 14, 1958 a panel member 18; Thepanel member 18 has a front face 19 and a back face 20. The contactisassembled from the back by inserting the blade 11. through the opening-'17. Thelockingtongue 14will'strike the edge of the openingandbepushed'p'artiallythrough the opening until the rounded end of theS-shaped spring. portion 16 strikes the opposite edge of the opening.Further pressure on the contact will tend to compress the spring 16until it slides intothe opening 17L .In the meantime, the tongue 14moves out of the opening and snaps into place in engagement with thefront face 19 of the panel. Simu1- taneously the abutment 15 of thecontact will. bear against the back face of the panel and the contactwill be in a position as shown in Figure 3.

While the locking tongue 14 has been shown adjacent the blade 11 and theabutment 15 adjacent the terminal end 13, it should be understood thatthis relation could be reversed without departing from this invention.The locking tongue, however, should be inserted through the openingfirst as it cooperates with the transversely resilient spring 16 toafford the necessary clamping action.

Figure 4 of the drawing is a cross-sectional view of a switch housing 25in which this inventive contact has been assembled. The housing 25comprises a metal shell 26 and an insulating base plate 18 havingopenings 17 in which the contacts 10 are mounted. A pair of movablecontacts 27 are pivotally mounted about a pin 28 to engage either theleft-hand or the right-hand contact. Fixed stops 29 are included on thebase 18 to limit the travel of the movable contacts 27. Push buttons 30are assembled through openings in the shell 26 for controlling theoperation of the contacts 27. A leaf spring 31 fastened on the outerside 20 of the base plate 18 bears against the central portion of thecontacts 27 to bias them normally to a central position. This action issupplemented by an additional serpentine spring 32 supported at itscenter on the pin 28 and bearing against the underneath side of eachcontact 27. The details of this switch are merely given for illustrativepurposes since this invention relates to the electrical contact 10 andnot to any particular switch structure.

Having described above my invention of a novel method of fastening anelectrical contact in an opening in a panel, it will be readilyunderstood by those skilled in this art that I have provided a simplesnap-in method which is both easy to manufacture and low in cost. Thisfastening means is not adversely affected when the switch is closed but,on the contrary, the fastening or clamping action is increased aspressure is exerted against the blade 11. Moreover, the spring sectionof the mounting portion of the contact is longitudinally extensible.This renders it possible to adjust the spring by stretching itlengthwise so that it will accommodate a panel of oversize thickness andyet be gripped tightly in the opening.

Modifications of this invention will occur to those skilled in this artand it is to be understood, therefore, that this invention is notlimited to the particular embodiment disclosed but that it is intendedto cover all modifications which are within the true spirit and scope ofthis invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentof the UnitedStates is:

1. An electrical contact of thin strip material comprising a contactingblade, an adjustable mounting portion and a terminal end; the mountingportion including a locking tongue at one side of the contact, atransversely resilient and longitudinally extensible spring section onthe opposite side of the contact, and an abutment likewise on theopposite side, whereby the contact may be assembled in an opening in athin panel with the locking tongue bearing against one side of the paneland the abutment against the opposite side, while the resilient springsection is confined within the opening.

2. In combination, an electrical contact and a panel having a relativelywide opening in which the contact is mounted, the contact being ofrelatively thin strip material and having a blade, an adjustablemounting portion and a terminal end; the mounting portion including alocking tongue at one side of the contact for engaging one side of thepanel, a transversely resilient and longitudinally extensible springsection on the opposite side of the contact, the spring section beingconfined within the opening, and an abutment joined to the springsection and bearing against the opposite of the panel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,543,000 Deakin Feb. 27, 1951

